A Degree Built to Last

One of the questions I hear most often from prospective students (parents, too) is — what can I do with a liberal arts degree?

If you’re receiving our emails or browsing our brochures and website, you already know that Bryn Mawr's sincere answer to that question is truly anything. And that’s the truth: Bryn Mawr graduates are astrophysicists, CEOs, college presidents, writers, activists, musicians, teachers, judges, and pretty much anything else you can think of. The data clearly shows that liberal arts graduates are prepared very well for a broad variety of interesting and meaningful careers. 

I could write at length about the incredible things that our students do after they leave Bryn Mawr, but I’d rather speak on what I think is an even more critical question at this moment with the rise of artificial intelligence and a host of complex problems forming the backdrop of our local, national, and global lives—why should I choose a liberal arts degree as my path to astrophysics, business, education, activism, art, politics, or whatever else I might aspire to? 

Since 1885, colleges like Bryn Mawr have been preparing students for meaningful and impactful lives. 

Our women’s college identity also means that we’re practiced at empowering female students to lead, to create, and to innovate across their chosen fields. We’ve carried out this mission very well for nearly 150 years (just browse some of our recent alum stories), and we’ve done it by focusing on a few core skills: 

1. Collaboration and communication. Essential skills in the workplace! Knowing how to work with others to achieve a common goal is something liberal arts graduates excel at, and employers know it. 

2. Curiosity and critical thinking. Also known as “how to ask good questions and get things done.” Liberal arts graduates don’t just achieve a task; they often leave their space better than they found it. 

3. Flexibility. A hallmark of the liberal arts experience and inherent to our interdisciplinary approach to learning. Gen Alpha will likely change jobs and careers several times in their lifetimes. Flexibility is a secret weapon. 

4. Leadership. What more is there to say? As I mentioned earlier, this is embedded in our mission, identity, and history as a women’s college. Know that when you graduate from Bryn Mawr, you’ll know your authentic voice and how to use it. 

When you arrive on the job search scene, you’ll find that in many cases, your specific undergraduate major can matter less than these durable skills and the real experience you picked up as a liberal arts student. According to research from the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), employers shared that they highly value proficiency in communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving skills among prospective employees. The good news? Liberal arts colleges have been delivering on these skills for hundreds of years, and we have no intention of stopping.  

More good news, these employer preferences have hardly budged with the rise of AI, even if they also prefer that prospective employees have been exposed to AI and its relevant uses. In fact, liberal arts colleges are overdelivering in this area, too. On our campuses, you won't just learn how to use AI, you’ll learn how to think critically about it from every angle—what are the ethical considerations in AI use, how and where does AI fall short, when can AI enhance the work of humans and when can it not, what might an AI future look like and how should it be governed? 

I think you get the picture. A liberal arts degree, importantly, will teach you how to think, not what to think. So, I return to my earlier question—why should I choose a liberal arts degree as my path? 

My answer is more resolved than ever, because a liberal arts degree is built to last.